Day 6, and another progression for you to build on, twist and make your own.

This time, we’re in drop D tuning, which gives us a deep D bass note for playing in the key of… D! Unlike previous progressions, where we’ve had defined chord changes, we’re going to “float” over this rooted D note with D major based phrases on the higher strings. Of course, you could do the same with D minor phrases if you wanted.

Whilst messing around over this D-based drone, one of the chords that jumped out at me was the #4 major chord, which is related to Lydian, a mode of the major scale characterised by its ethereal #4 sound. Also, adding in the dominant 7th deepened its mysterious quality. Take a listen (you should be able to experiment and make so much more of this, by the way!)

So, using that D root note, see what interesting tones and phrasings you can pull out of those top 3 strings. My example was very simple, but if you want a more complex example of this technique, check out Sepultura’s Jasco off their Roots album.

Happy experimenting and see you again tomorrow!

By the way – feel free to submit links to your YouTube videos or mp3 audio if you have a progression to share. Use the comments function below. Cheers!